JGR Finishes 1-2-3 at Richmond, Truex Takes Home Victory

The second race in the first round of the playoffs took place at Richmond Raceway in Virginia. The unique 0.75 mile, D-shaped, asphalt race track presented a challenging drive as the worn-out surface forced repeated pit stops for fresh tires.

LAP 1: Kyle Larson was supposed to start in pole position, but was sent to the rear of the field for failing pre-race inspection twice. Denny Hamlin assumed P1, with teammate Martin Truex Jr beside him on the front row. Coming to the green flag, Truex jumped the start and passed the start/finish line before Hamlin, which resulted in a pass-thru penalty.

CAUTION – LAP 30: The yellow flag waved for the competiton caution so teams could check tire wear and make adjustments. Kurt Busch won the race off pit road, but fell back on the restart, allowing Denny Hamlin to take the lead.

CAUTION – LAP 41: While racing for 4th place, the left-rear tire on the #1 of Kurt Busch went down. Busch spun and made heavy contact with the SAFER barrier in Turn 1 that ended his night early.

STAGE 1 END – LAP 80: Denny Hamlin won the stage and picked up the playoff point. Behind him, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top 5 at the end of the stage. Elliott picked up the lead on the restart with Hamlin in a close second.

STAGE 2 END – LAP 230: Without a single caution in the second stage, Hamlin and Elliott put on an incredible show, swapping the top spot back and forth throughout the whole segment. In the end, it was Hamlin who picked up another stage win and the playoff point.

CAUTION – LAP 251: The #23 of Bubba Wallace brought out the final caution of the race when the left-front tire went flat on his Toyota Camry and caused him to his the SAFER Barrier in Turn 1. The field pitted during the caution and Martin Truex Jr won the race off pit road.

CHECKERED FLAG – LAP 400: Despite a charging Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex jr crossed the line 1.4 seconds ahead of his teammate to claim his 4th win of the season.

RESULTS:

1. Martin Truex Jr
2. Denny Hamlin
3. Christopher Bell
4. Chase Elliott
5. Joey Logano
6. Kyle Larson
7. Ross Chastain
8. Kevin Harvick
9. Kyle Busch
10. Ryan Blaney
11. Austin Dillon
12. Alex Bowman
13. Brad Keselowski
14. Aric Almirola
15. Tyler Reddick
16. Chase Briscoe
17. Daniel Suarez
18. Matt DiBenedetto
19. William Byron
20. Ryan Newman
21. Erik Jones
22. Cole Custer
23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
24. Chris Buescher
25. Ryan Preece
26. Anthony Alfredo
27. Justin Haley
28. Michael McDowell
29. Corey LaJoie
30. BJ McLeod
31. Garrett Smithley
32. Bubba Wallace
33. Joey Gase
34. JJ Yeley
35. Quin Houff
36. Josh Bilicki
37. Kurt Busch